An unOrdinary Swap
by The Tinglenator
Summary: John and Arlo are going about business as usual- AKA, yelling at each other- when Cecile plans ahead for once and sends an unlucky student to do her dirty work: a Freaky Friday simulation. With John in Arlo's body and vice versa, the two enemies will have to work a lot closer together if they want to return to normal. Not to mention Isen snooping...
1. The Article

**A/N:**

This story was originally begun around the time Seraphina first got kidnapped, and finished once she was saved, but it takes place earlier on in the comic.

(Au11 2020: I will be completely re-editing this very soon- you'll know the entire story has been properly edited when I've removed this notice. This story was my first time ever writing or posting fanfiction, and I'm not ashamed to admit it's probably rough- which is exactly why I'm "touching it up". In other words, each scene will be largely the same, just lengthened and written in more fluent prose. I hope you can enjoy it nonetheless while I'm working on it.)

* * *

**_Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into. -Sons of The Desert_**

Arlo strolled down the hall, thinking about recent events. It certainly wouldn't take a genius to figure out that things were going downhill. It seemed as though there was never anything he could do about these ever-growing problems.

To complete the list of worries, he had still received no response from Remi after the cafe incident. This definitely didn't mean anything good. But he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, had he?

"Arlo." The voice rang loud and clear within the hall, which was devoid of the usual mid tiers. Of course, John had come to pester him at this hour, even after Arlo had presumed he made it clear where he stood. The insolent boy ran up beside him without another word.

"What do you want?" Arlo snarked, as he slowly swiveled around to face John, whose typically (extremely) gelled up black hair now fell messily. "I thought I told you not to talk to me anymore-"

_SMACK!_

All of a sudden, Arlo's view was obstructed by a paper in his face. The slap hadn't hurt, as rarely anything fazed the messy blonde, but his ego was yet again damaged by this unruly peer. He removed the sheet of paper from his face and found himself to be looking at a newspaper article titled "Fall of A Goddess". It depicted Arlo's former friend, a high ranking student, lying at the bottom of a staircase. He already knew the text was about Seraphina's fall from Ace to cripple, as he had read it earlier in the newspaper club room. But… he had ordered the head of the club, Cecile, to make sure it was thrown into the trash. It shouldn't have been placed in the school newspaper. "Where did you find this?"

"It's posted all over school, stupid!" came John's quick reply. "You don't even know about it yet? What kind of King are you?" Arlo was vaguely aware of more insults being hurled his way. That was not important. What was important was that Cecile had disobeyed him. _Directly_ disobeyed him. It wasn't in the newspaper, but it was a sheet of paper he expected to have been affixed on every bulletin board. "Sera's become the target of the whole school!"

John's shouting was much too loud at this point. Did he see Arlo as a magical genie who could right everything that went wrong? A fortune teller who could prevent things from occurring through foresight?

"How could you let this happen?" That degrading tone would never leave John's voice. He was sick and tired of being expected to carry the load, a load _John kept adding to_!  
"WILL YOU JUST **SHUT UP**-?"

Nothing that John was able to do at the moment could hurt Arlo. He could take punches to the face and hardly feel them, thanks to his passive ability. But something had made his stomach a black hole and his head weigh fifty pounds… and this sickening feeling hit all at once, much too hard. Before Arlo knew what was happening, the world felt like it had spun a thousand times beneath his feet, and he lost awareness of his senses.

…

A few seconds had probably passed, but to John, it had felt like forever. The vertigo was entirely different from broken ribs or punches to the guts. Once it had come through, it vanished just as fast as it had come. Though the need to puke passed, and there was no blood, he had been reduced to kneeling down with one leg. Surely nothing Arlo could do would cause his hands to pick up dust from the blood, as clumsy as they were. His view slowly revolved around to Arlo, who was also on his knees, and seemed to be suffering the same fate. But instead of Arlo being on his right, he was now on the left. John stumbled back as he tried to rise and just barely managed to stay standing. When everything came back into focus- his equilibrium, his vision, etc.- he was able to look down at Arlo clearly as the other tried to get up. But… he wasn't looking at Arlo. He was looking at himself.

The boy looked up at John, reflecting John's own disbelief. Without knowing why, John turned around to where the windows were… and was able to make out a pale reflection of Arlo. _He, John_, was nowhere to be seen in the reflection.

"... John?" he inquired. Except he hadn't said anything.

John turned back around to face… himself… and the boys shared a knowing look. "A-... Arlo?" John asked. But it came out deeper. It came out as Arlo's voice.

The look in his eyes confirmed it… but how had this happened? Had someone done this? Had Arlo knocked him unconscious, and he was having a horrible dream?

John's confusion quickly morphed into anger and hatred. He hadn't done anything to deserve this, so Arlo had obviously done something. But why should he be punished for Arlo's stupid decisions? Why should he have to… **BE Arlo**? Why does everything always fall to _him_? All his troubles were always because of Arlo. Arlo, Arlo, Arlo. Why was he always involved in Arlo's stupid mistakes? Why did _he_ have to pay for all the dumb things Arlo does?

Arlo had been thinking in much the same way. He doesn't anger other students like John does. He doesn't take part in the vacuous things John does. John always messes things up, and leaves it for him to clean up! Every. Single. Time!

"WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE _THIS_ TIME?" John blurted out.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING ALWAYS _MY_ FAULT?" Arlo retorted.  
"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A FUCKING ASSHOLE AND PISS **EVERYONE** OFF?"  
"YOU PROBABLY GOT THEM ANGRY WITH ALL YOUR SMARTASS TALK!"  
"WELL GO GET HIM, YOU DUMBASS!"  
"NOT EVERYTHING IS MY RESPONSIBILITY, **JOHN**! WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING USEFUL FOR ONCE?"

John had had enough. He took a few steps towards 'himself', who instinctively leaned backwards but stopped himself from taking a step back. John grabbed him by the tie and shirt, pulling him up so that they were face to face. "You'd better watch your mouth, _Arlo_. You're not in a position to make demands anymore."

Arlo regarded 'Arlo' with disdain. _He thinks he's always so high and mighty, doesn't he?_ "I could _easily_ expose your ability."  
John was going to counter with a warning like 'I'll knock your brains out' or just a punch then and there, but he couldn't risk Arlo revealing his ability nonetheless. It was obvious he was dumb enough to do that; he had to make Arlo uncertain. "Do that, and you're not returning to normal."

'John's eyes' gleamed with assuagement. "Then I suppose you're never seeing Seraphina again."

Sera hates Arlo. It was true- she'd probably never talk to him again… much less, hang out with him like they always have. But Arlo had never known the pain of being a cripple. He could make him feel that pain. "I-"  
"Tend to your side of things, and I'll tend to mine. If you miraculously manage not to fuck over everything for me, I won't ruin your life. Understood?" Arlo couldn't believe he was bending so quickly, but wasting time might only result in something going awry. The former blonde rarely had dreams, and with such clarity, as well. Not matter what, he could not chance his throne further.  
'Arlo' grit his teeth together and tossed 'John' to the ground. Normally, he couldn't have made Arlo move an inch. It was kind of nice being the Immovable Object. "I'm going to make you regret this, you shady prick."  
"Just run the goddamn school properly. You can't trick me, John. We'll attend to matters when this is settled. For now, it's as much your duty as mine to find out what happened."  
"If you hurt Sera in any way, I'll make sure your life is just as fucked up as mine."

It was mostly an empty threat, and the only one remaining for him. As long as Arlo could keep hold of his cards, John would have to cooperate. In knowing this, it was safe for 'John' to walk off the way John had come originally. As he turned his back to 'Arlo' and took a step forward, he noticed how everything appeared a tad larger. The ceiling was further away, and each door seemed a bit taller.

"Hold on."

What could John possibly want now? Did he not realize Arlo has the upper hand? Is he so_ desperate_ to prove himself right, he'll argue for hours more?

"What's the password to your phone?"

OOO

John stood in the bathroom, still bewildered that the mirror reflected Arlo's face and not his own. They couldn't stay like this forever, could they? No. Someone had to have done this- he could have sworn he felt something on his shoulder before he became deathly ill. It might have been a hand. It might have been a student. And he'd find them.

He furrowed his eyebrows, but almost burst out laughing at the way 'Arlo' looked. It was just weird that everything he did, was really everything that Arlo did….

Never mind that. Sera should be safe in the infirmary, and although whoever did this had a head start, they might be trying to hide in plain sight. So how could he find them? If they were a student, Isen might know about them. It was worth a shot.

Exploring the quiet halls as if he was new to the school, 'John' tried to think about the many places Isen could be. He hardly knew much about him, but he'd been skipping class, and he was part of the newspaper team. Maybe he was at the club room?


	2. The Cafe

_Shaken, not stirred. -Goldfinger_

Arlo's phone went off with the standard ringtone. The ID read Elaine, but he couldn't just ignore the call. John had to admit, he was in a precarious situation. Angering Arlo could result in just about anything going awry, and he might not be able to fix it in time. "Hello?"

"Hey Arlo!" came Elaine's squeaky voice on the other end. "Where did you want to meet up?"

Meet up? Arlo was meeting Elaine somewhere? _Why_? Yeah, they knew each other from Turf Wars, but Elaine was so annoying, and he could have _sworn_ she was the lowest of the low among the elite tiers. Wait- shit. Now he'd been hesitating to answer. "Uh- I've heard Woaba Boba is a good spot."

"Okay! Did you want to meet in half an hour?"

"Yes, that would be fine." John answered. That time he had almost nailed it- a hint of an English accent, with a low and calm voice.

"Alright! See you there!"

Luckily he didn't have to come up with another response, as Elaine had already hung up. But he couldn't imagine how long he would have to endure her rambling at Woaba Boba, and if he could survive it without falling asleep. Replying to her in a conversation shouldn't be a problem, though; she's much too flustered and dense to notice anything. Maybe she'd know where Isen usually is.

When Elaine finally arrived at Woaba Boba, she was dolled up and couldn't keep from blushing. "Arlo!" she called from a dozen feet away. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

"No worries. I haven't been here long." In fact, he hadn't even ordered the coffee yet. John could have sworn she was a few minutes early, so his idea of getting extra cream and sugar added was a bust. She came so willingly to meet Arlo, and yet, she wouldn't even come to heal Sera with him there- unless she was forced.

Elaine took a seat in the booth and didn't say anything until they had ordered their drinks and had taken a few sips. "So, Arlo? Is there any particular reason you wanted to see me?"

Wait, what was it that Arlo had wanted in sitting down with her? He couldn't have wanted this to be something of a date. _Dammit, Arlo! Why do you have to be so secretive?_

Elaine started to look a little worried when he didn't immediately respond- or maybe it was some sort of hopefulness.

Arlo would probably want information from her. But… what information? The only thing Elaine could tell him was Sera's condition. Unless, she was supposed to be looking for other things. _Arlo, don't tell me… _ "I was interested in how Sera-_phina_\- is faring." It sounded like Arlo had two short strokes in the middle of the sentence, but Elaine just seemed upset that this revolved around Sera.

"Oh… right. Well, nothing seems different from last week. There have been no signs of her ability returning." She paused to look at her drink. "I'm sort of worried for her. I overheard her on the phone… and it sounded like Wellston Hospital was telling her about her results. I don't know what they told her, but she seemed really shaken. Maybe even the doctors don't know what's wrong with her…."

John looked at the table, thinking. This information was nothing new, but at least Elaine still seemed to _care_ about Sera. And Elaine acted as though relaying this information to Arlo was normal. Was it?

"Hey, Arlo?"

He looked up from his thoughts.

"I saw the postings about Seraphina today." Right. The thing that had started two huge messes. Not only would Sera have to deal with the entire school wanting to take her on, it had given someone an opportunity to do… this. Whatever you would call it. "Looks like the school found out after all…"

'Arlo' sighed. "There's nothing we can do about it now. Do you know who posted the article?"

Elaine shook her head. "They remained anonymous. Even though the writer might not be sure if Seraphina really lost her ability, what about everyone else? D-do you think things will get out of hand?"

Even though _he_ had to do it, at least he could really protect her now. "If everything becomes too crazy, I'll step in."

Before he could say anything else, the TVs blared with a typical broadcast newsroom tune. "BREAKING NEWS!" a red haired reporter exclaimed. "EMBER strikes yet again!" The woman then went on to say the same old generic information about the body and the dangers of becoming a superhero yourself.

"Oh, that reminds me." Elaine said as she turned her gaze away from the TV. "Uhm… Saturday night, Blyke and Isen were pounding on my door. They were in a panic. Before I could process anything, I was in Remi's room…. She had a huge gash on her back and was coughing blood." she looked to 'Arlo' for a reaction, but he didn't know what to give. She was the Queen, so Arlo probably knew her well. The best he could do was slightly delayed surprise. "The ability wasn't from any of our rival schools, and certainly not from Wellston. She was hurt badly… the attacker would have had to be an elite tier, at least." she explained.

"And you were reminded of this from what's on the news?" John asked.

Elaine began to blush again. "They're probably not connected… I just wonder what those three are up to."

It was probably now John's responsibility to find out what happened to Remi and make sure she was okay. He'd much rather be looking after Sera, but he might do more than harm than good as it currently stood. All he could do is hope Arlo was competent enough in keeping her safe until he can get to watching from afar.

Arlo was unaccustomed to living in a small apartment such as John's. He had numerous duties at home to be dealt with on the daily, and the estate was near enough to the school. He knew he had it good, but here everything was crammed together, and he might as well sleep on the floor as opposed to the bed. All there had been to eat was cheap, fake, easy to prepare foods- like ramen noodles. Arlo assumed an extra bulge in the budget for some real food would go unnoticed.

On the route to classes the next day, Arlo had to keep reminding himself that John referred to Seraphina as 'Sera'. Even though she was a cripple now, it was disconcerting when he discovered her taking the alternate path today. "Heeeeeey, Sera!" he called. When she turned to face him, he realized she looked awful. Her hair was astray, she wandered as though a zombie, and bags rested beneath her eyes.

"Oh, hey." she mumbled. Seraphina halted her hobbling and waited for him to catch up. Arlo hadn't run in a very long time, but it was probably something John would do.

"Did you get much sleep last night?" he wondered, trying to act 'upbeat'.

"No. I couldn't fall asleep 'til late." Her monotone voice was definitely reflecting it. However, she seemed a bit more… awake, with 'John' around. It would figure that John lifts her spirits, and never himself.

"Oh… Are you still worried about your ability coming back?" They were now walking side by side, and she seemed more comfortable with it than she ever had near Arlo.

"I guess."

He looked to her with a smile. "Well, if you keep wishing for time to go by, you'll just prolong the moments."

She looked up from the ground and met his eye with a raised eyebrow. As a joke, she replied with, "Were you searching up quotes last night?"

"Uh, noooooooooooooo. I can't use fancy words?"

Seraphina just giggled; a type of laugh Arlo had never heard from her before. He supposed it was pretty cute.


	3. The Infirmary

_I'll be right here. -E.T._

John, or should I say, 'Arlo', was walking about the halls, 'casually' looking for Sera. She hadn't taken the usual way, which surprised him. Instead, he found her and 'John' pinned up against some lockers on an alternative route, with a ring of mid tiers surrounding them… and Zeke at the heart of it.

"Zeke, you snake!" Sera cried, in a last attempt to save them from being knocked totally unconscious. 'John' already looked like his brains had become mashed potatoes, and Sera's face was bloodied. "After kissing up to me for all these years, you finally show your true colours!"

"Hey, don't blame me!" the elite tier said in a mock tone, a malicious smile spreading on his face. "It's not my fault you can't use your ability, is it?" He raised his hands in a sweeping gesture. "Look, this isn't anything personal. I'm just taking advantage of an opportunity. Now, in front of all these witnesses, I've defeated you! The _mighty Seraphina_ has fallen. You can call me the **Godslayer**."

"Zeke." 'Arlo' stepped from behind him, looking collected yet upset. Though he didn't care what Arlo would normally be doing in this circumstance, he could easily just blame it on the hierarchy. Nothing mattered; not if Sera was being harmed.

"Oh, Arlo." Zeke said, the smile quickly fading. "I… didn't expect to see you here. You're looking great as ever-"

_BAM!_

Zeke went flying down the hall and hit the wall a good dozen feet away. Students made an opening automatically so that 'Arlo' could walk up to Zeke and inspect the blue-haired boy's face, showing pure confusion and terror from the punch. Higher tiers would care more about their reputation than simply being punched, however. He could make Zeke beg forgiveness another time. "You're bragging about attacking Seraphina while she's a cripple? Defeating a helpless low tier gets you no bragging rights." He looked about at all the mid tiers standing around. "And all of you simply stand by, and waste your time on cripples! I won't, stand for it. You have all embarrassed yourselves, this school, and most importantly, your superiors." His eyes travelled back to Zeke, the guy who had mercilessly beaten him to a pulp and left him to rot. "You most of all. I don't ever want to see you shaming _us high tiers_ again. Got it?" That speech should stave off everyone for a long while.

As 'Arlo' scowled down at Zeke, the mid tiers could be heard whispering things. When were they _not_ whispering things? Whether he had or had not done a good job pretending to be Arlo, they would whisper about something. "Y- yes, Arlo. I'm sorry. I won't." Zeke stammered as he got up, keeping as close to the wall as possible.

"Get to class, everyone!" John shouted. The patience Arlo usually reserved wasn't present anymore. "_Get going!_"

All of the mid tiers dashed out of the hallway as fast as humanly possible, and Zeke ran past 'Arlo' in a wide circle. Before he could turn around and face Sera, John needed to make sure he wouldn't say anything out of character. The least she needed to worry about right now was why Arlo had been treating her so weirdly. Once he came to stand by her and 'John', Sera looked up from trying to support what she thought was her best friend's limp form. "Can you get him to the infirmary?"

Arlo had been beaten a few times before, sure. But he had never felt pain this tremendous previously. He presumed his ribs were broken; it was laborious to breathe. His vision had gone blurry and his head was spinning a thousand miles an hour. He felt Seraphina try to help him up, but without avail. He was too disorientated and sore to stand. Even sitting there stretched the limits of his lungs. How could John put up with this? Why did _he_ have to put up with this? He could defend himself and Seraphina more than adequately with John's ability.

His hearing returning to- roughly- customary standards, Arlo heard Seraphina ask 'Arlo' if he could assist them. Too weak to resist, he felt John wrap his right arm around John's neck. Everything save for Seraphina sticking close to him was omitted from memory.

John was genuinely surprised that Arlo hadn't done anything when Zeke attacked them. He had been half expecting for his ability to be revealed, and bringing Arlo to the infirmary probably wouldn't make up for the "favour" Arlo had done him- at least, in the other boy's eyes. To John, Arlo was just doing as he was told to do. As he was _supposed_ to do.

'John' had barely kept any consciousness from the attack, leaving Sera alone in the infirmary. John would have liked to stay, but didn't want to make her uncomfortable or somehow emotionally pained more. When he turned to leave, she didn't ask him to linger for even a moment longer- and though John knew Sera was unawares, it still hurt.

The first auditory cues Arlo heard upon waking were the sounds of someone weeping. As he sat up in extreme discomfort, he finally realized it was Seraphina. Wonderful. Not only was he still stuck in this condition, but he was obligated to somehow support Seraphina as well.

He sat up on the cot and hoarsely whispered to her, as that was all he could manage at the moment. "Sera? Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, whilst putting a hand along her shoulder and back. Her elbows were propped on the bed, her head supported in her hands. She didn't move from this position, but did seem to make an effort to stop crying. Not that it did any good; the tears just came back even more violently. 'John' moved his face closer to hers. "Don't let Zeke get you upset. We're both fine now, see?"

This time, she could stop enough to sit up and wiped the tears from her right cheek. 'John' wiped off some more from her left side ever so gently. "I couldn't protect us. I couldn't fight back. I couldn't do _anything_!" She turned her head away and refused to meet his eye.

"Everything will return to normal when you get your ability back. It just needs some more time."

"Nobody can figure out what's wrong. Not Doc. Not the hospital. Not even the authorities. The drug…"

"It can't last forever, can it?" he gave Seraphina a little smile. "We just have to wait a-"

"NO!" she whirled back around to him as more tears slid down her cheeks. "I'm tired of waiting! All I ever do is wait, and all I ever get is disappointment!" Her shoulders sagged as she sighed outwardly. "I don't want to lie to myself anymore."

What could Arlo say to that? If he told her to wait longer, she would probably just grow more dismayed, which wouldn't help anyone. But what else was there to say?

Seraphina leaned in and rested her forehead against his, reminding him of the burning in his ribs. He couldn't let her know her was in pain at the moment- even though it felt less like pain, and more like hell. 'John' put his hand on her arm and let her sob a bit more. "What am I supposed to do now? I'm powerless… there's _nothing left_…"

He took her shoulders and got her to stop leaning on him, even though it hadn't been uncomfortable. "Hey, not everything is lost. We can still do what we always do! Go to the roof, the mall… grab drinks, whatever! They can't stop us from having some fun. Everything will be alright."

She met his smile with her own weak one, and they decided to call it a day.


	4. The Information

_I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. -The Godfather_

John had no idea what to do as a King. He would have liked to go after the writer of that article, but he didn't know who to go to- and the same thing for whoever got away with switching him and Arlo. Maybe Isen? But where was Isen? Blyke might know, but where was Blyke?

He shared English with the two of them, that he knew. But Arlo couldn't just walk into a random class and ask for Isen. He could catch him as he was planning to go in to class- IF Isen was going to attend at all. The only other place he knew Isen would be is the newspaper club room.

As the final bells rang to announce school was over, Isen was hurrying down the halls. The few papers he had in hand would need to be immediately typed up into an article format before he could critique a few people's articles and submit his remaining ones. This week he had promised even more people than usual that he would meet with them, and now he was running late.

But the likelihood of ever getting into the club room suddenly dipped as Arlo's voice rang throughout the quiet halls. "Isen."

Arlo hadn't been behind him a second go- and he was not looking at all happy. Isen hadn't even done anything, and here he was in a grumpy mood. He couldn't imagine what it would be like being Cecile. "Y-yeah?"

Arlo stopped and put his hands in his pockets, nodding in signal for Isen to follow him. They went into an empty classroom, and the door was shut. This couldn't be good news. Arlo leaned against the desk and regarded him with a cold look- one that didn't look much like Arlo's, but more like John's glare of hatred. "Isen, you have information on all the kids attending this school, correct?"

Isen raised an eyebrow and averted his gaze. "Well, yeah…"

"I assume you saw the article concerning Sera-phina?"

Whole crowds had gathered around the sheets of paper. He had thought it was weird that it would be posted on bulletin boards and not in the newspaper, but now he knew why. "The one about her ability… loss?"

"Yes. Do you know who wrote it?"

"No. Cecile kept it anonymous."

'Arlo' seemed to be slightly taken aback by this. Had the blonde really expected the writer to proudly announce themself? Isen had assumed the older boy had not wanted it published. "Where can I find Cecile?" Arlo asked hesitantly.

Never before had Isen heard Arlo sound hesitant. Something big must be going on; maybe John had already flipped. "She's in the press room doing some work."

Arlo nodded and thought for a moment. "I need you to get me a list of students with odd abilities. Anything out of the ordinary… or which induces extreme nausea. I want an accurate one shortly. Make sure you've looked through all the new students, understood?"

Recalling the other times he had given his input, Isen wisely held his tongue. "I-I'll do my best."

Arlo scoffed and strolled out of the classroom. Something had definitely seemed off, but who knew with Arlo? It could be anything, and it could very well be nothing. But there was no use dwelling on it; he had a lot of students to look into.

Cecile had been stamping each paper with care. Some were well-written, some had far too many grammar mistakes to be corrected. Unfortunately, the news wasn't that exciting. Where was Isen? Where was her intriguing top story? He promised he would arrive early and help her with the acceptance routine. And yet, when the door finally slammed open, a pissed Arlo stood in the doorway.

Without a word, he walked his way over to her desk and placed a piece of paper down. Daggers shot from his eyes, but he was as quiet as the rest of the room. What did he expect from her? She made the risky move of letting her eyes drop, and finally caught the name of the article. _Fall of A Goddess_.

"What is this doing on all the bulletin boards?" Arlo asked as Isen walked in and closed the door behind him.

"I-I… I don't know." Cecile stammered. Nobody knew she had anything to do with it. She couldn't be blamed for it. How would he even punish her, anyway? He had no clue as to what he was doing.

"I thought I told you to keep this hidden." he growled. The look Cecile was given kept her from noticing the oddity of that sentence.

"Look, Arlo. I didn't have anything to do with th-"

"You're in charge of all the news, yet this didn't concern you? Come on."

"I swear-"

"_Anyway_," Arlo said while giving her a warning glare, "You weren't able to do as you were asked to do." He paused to look around at everyone in the room, as if coming up with the next thing to say. "So, you won't be having any more tasks. Isen!"

Still near the door and clutching his papers for dear life, the orange-and-black-haired boy nervously responded with, "Uh… yeah?"

"You will be leading the school press instead."

No. _NO!_ He can't do this! He has nothing to do with the news! Isen was't even in her _tier_, and he would so easily give her job to that buffoon? He has no right! He couldn't treat her like a toddler! "Arlo! You're going to demote me when my rank is so much higher?" she shrieked.

"Yes."

"That's preposterous! You can't just bust in and do whatever you please!"

Arlo's navy blue eyes began to glow, like a candle lit aflame. A candle which would burn down the house if you didn't choose your next words wisely. "Oh? And are you going to stop me?"

He was challenging her. Mocking her. He only ever used the hierarchy when it worked for him, of course. Not when _he_ could get in trouble. Not when _he_ could face nasty consequences. Not when _his_ secrets could be revealed.

Arlo's eyes registered surprise when she flung up her hand without warning and shot her green energy darts at him, but all it took was a narrowing of his eyebrows and they pecked harmlessly off his barrier- the damage then being reflected onto her. She should have expected it. There had been that tiny hope she would at least scratch up his arrogant complexion. Though the innumerous cuts stung, her pride was wounded more.

"Get out!" he ordered above the din of whispers. "You will have nothing more to do with the press again."

She caught the looks of lower ranking students and breathed out in defeat. If it was his will, Cecile could hardly do anything. Not without help, at least. She met his eye and went to bow.

"Get out!" he roared. The whispers instantly died off, and Cecile kept her head lowered as she passed him. What else could he get mad at her for? Breathing? Everything could have gone so well. How did he know to speak with her?


	5. The Game

_Love means never having to say you're sorry. -Love Story_

'John' was leaned up against the school that morning, hoping he had determined the accurate spot to meet with Seraphina. Though he was all healed up from yesterday it had hurt getting up from the bed initially, and it had taken much of his willpower not to show signs of it in front of Seraphina. She already seemed to feel quite guilty about not being able to protect John. This far along in the lie, however, would probably only cause her more distress and ruin any hopes of getting back to normal in the near future.

"You're early." came a dulled and strained voice. Still feeling vulnerable after not being able to summon a barrier, he jumped at the words and saw Seraphina standing closely adjacent to him.

He had managed to leave the dorms before Blyke had gotten up, and hadn't run into the redhead yet. Arlo assumed this was positive, seen as Blyke made no incentive to chat and the less people he spoke with, the better. 'The helmet' had been completed to near satisfaction and it was pleasing that he was regarded as early. "Yeah… I woke up early." A complete lie. He had even decided to keep in bed a few moments longer; it couldn't hurt him. "How about you?"

She sighed. Her condition had worsened from the other day, though Arlo could hardly have imagined it possible for her to become worse. "I stayed up all night again… spent most of it feeling sorry for myself." The purple-haired girl peered at the ground and only looked up as she asked the question, "Would you show me how you usually get through the day? I'd like to learn how to defend myself… at least a little bit."

His answer came after a brief pause. "Sure."

Arlo had no idea what he would do.

He had only seen John fight once- against four mid tiers, all at the same time. The boy's fighting style hadn't sparked his interest, and it was over in seconds. If Sera wanted him to teach her something, he couldn't really say no, though. He could only pray the session would be over shortly, and John had made some headway towards finding a solution.

The two of them were on the roof, rolling up their sleeves and stretching. When it could be delayed no longer, 'John' spoke. "Sooooooo, you've had training before, right? Like, combat training?"

"Yeah. I had a personal instructor, but haven't practiced since early grade school." Her voice was still lower and more forced than usual. Though she could walk about fine, things were, without a doubt, wearing her down. "Once my ability started developing, I put all my efforts into ability mastery instead. Endurance, focus, and pain tolerance… those were the points I worked on." Another sigh. "So much for that…"

'John' gave her his best smile and ran a hand down her shoulder and arm. "No worries! We'll get you blocking and punching in a… jiffy!"

He started off with the safest thing- proper stances. Like most high tiers, he too had taken some training and still remembered certain parts of it. Other bits were common knowledge, but he hoped she wouldn't mind; which she never mentioned she did. He was just finished with the first, and most basic, defensive stance- which included pretending to ram into her to demonstrate good balance- when a vaguely familiar face opened the door to the roof and called out, "Hey!" in a heavy Scottish accent. "You two shouldn't be up here! No _cripples_ allowed."

'John' hesitated in replying. What was there to say? The face seemed familiar in some consideration, so the kid was probably an elite tier- though not important to be taken note of. If so, he as a cripple would stand no chance in an argument. For the sake of not getting pummeled again, he would have complied- had it not been for the look Seraphina gave to the ground. It probably hurt to not be capable of talking back, and he could finally- partially- sympathize. "We're not hurting anyone by being up here. And you've only come to kick us off, not to enjoy the view."

The boy scrunched up his nose in disgust and held the door wide open. "Are you actually going to talk back to me? You should be grateful I'm letting you off with a warning. Now beat it!"

He had already prepared a comeback, but Seraphina began to make her way to the door and muttered, "It's fine. Let's just go."

As they walked down the hall, Seraphina finally spoke again. "Getting kicked off the roof by a kid I don't even know. Pretty pathetic." Her eyes kept to the ground, a habit Arlo had only recently noticed. "This is what I have to deal with now, huh?"

Seriousness? Encouragement? John would probably fake it right until the cat's out of the bag. "I know it's not as fun as being a high tier, but we'll make it work, okay?" He smiled and patted her back.

All he got from her was more silence.

After classes, they met up outside of school by one of the walls and found a pleasant bench to sit on and play games. Arlo had never been one to turn on his phone and play " ", but apparently John had been invested in dragging pigs around to swallow other pigs, and Arlo was doomed to comply.

For the first few minutes the two played in relative silence, but when Seraphina's pig-circle got swallowed, she placed her phone down on her lap and rested her head on 'John's' shoulder. "Jeez, I can't even get above 300 points," she muttered.

Meanwhile, his game was going pretty well. "Heh, that's okay. You're giving me a chance to finally catch up to you."

She sighed and made herself comfy against him in the hot afternoon sun.

Arlo got his virtual pig into a safe spot and leaned his head against hers. "How's Elaine been?" he asked nonchalantly. He suspected she was still treating Seraphina just fine, but he might as well check. It also helped to relieve the awkwardness he felt when the purple-haired girl made a lot of contact with him. It's not because she's a girl, or that she's incredibly powerful, or even that she's hot- er, it's just that she hardly used to go near him. And if she found out what was really going on at the moment, her attitude would entirely change up again.

"She's fine. Maybe even a little more timid than before."

He chuckled, and then realized he had zoned out for a moment. "GAME OVER, CLICK TO PLAY AGAIN" the screen read.

"Have you managed to get along with Blyke?" she inquired.

It was an odd question to ask. He had assumed John and Blyke were on fairly good terms, as John had evidently made friends with Seraphina, and it should be no different with the outgoing elite tier. But since Blyke hadn't been saying hello often and there had never been plans to "hang out", it was a safe assumption that John was being the prick he usually is. "Well… not really."

Sera maneuvered out of her position and gave him a look. "I've already told you, he isn't as bad as you make him out to be. Are you not going to give it a chance?"

He shrugged. "I guess, if I see him anytime soon."

She smirked. "Did you piss him off again?"


	6. The Calls

_There's no crying in baseball! -A League of Their Own_

That night, the pricey phone went off with a call from Elaine. Some thoughts had been eating away at 'Arlo', and he really didn't want to talk with a nervous bitch at the moment. He only wished of returning to normal. Returning to his dorm. Returning to Sera.

"Sorry for calling at this time, but… Blyke and Isen came again."

_Ring, ring._

_Ring, ring._

"Hey, Arlo!"

"Isen. How goes the search?"

"... Well, nothing so far in what you're looking for. But I'll keep on it."

"Thanks. I trust you'll search even quicker, and not procrastinate or take part in something, like what you did last night."

"... Uhhhh, what? I didn't do anything last night."

"Tell me exactly what happened, Isen. I can't let Remi run around as a superhero and get herself harmed like this."

"..."

"Isen."

"It wasn't my idea! I thought it was pretty harmless at first. Me and Blyke both did our best to protect her."

"You've done this twice now? Gone out and taken part in superhero activities?"

"Yeah. The first time wasn't good, but this time, we… uhm…"

"How did you manage to get yourselves directly involved with EMBER?"

"I-I don't know if it was EMBER exactly, but it was some really powerful woman. Way faster than what Remi could handle."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well, her superhero name was X-Rei, like her brother? Oh, and in Lewes, where we ran into Volcan, she… her right arm was burnt. Elaine healed it, but it's still, erm, outta commision."

"Volcan is from EMBER?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Were you three attempting to get into a fight with someone from EMBER?"

"... Well…"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes?"

"_Hhhhhhhhh_."

"I'm so sorry, Arlo! We're not doing it again! I already told them I'm not doing it any- anymore!"

"It's fine, Isen. Just make sure you get on that list of abilities."

"Right!"

"Goodbye."

"See ya!"

Seraphina had been texting him only a short while ago, and now she was neither responding nor located where she ought to be- where they had met the day before and played games. After texting her twice and waiting a good while, he thought it best to call. The standard answering machine was the only one to pick up the phone.

He still hadn't been contacted as he walked about the campus. Was she avoiding him for some reason? Had he said something yesterday? Arlo could hardly imagine the girl simply ignoring John without any notice.

"John!"

It was only when Blyke stood in front of him that Arlo realized he had been addressed. The red-head took out his earbuds and shoved them into the pockets of his jogging shorts.

"You stayed late today?" he asked, with a pleasant smile on his lips. "I didn't know you were in extra curriculars."

John would probably make this as difficult as humanly possible. And although he didn't want to give the Jack a hard time, he still had to play the role of a dickwad. He could only imagine the outrageous things John would do to get back at him. "I don't." 'John' put his hands in his pockets and turned away.

"Oh… then, what were you doing?"

He raised an eyebrow to the boy. It was good to know that Blyke didn't just treat _him_ fair. As next in line for the title of King (besides John, who doesn't seem to want the title), it would be important for him to know how to get respect from the ranks below him. "Waiting for someone. Does it matter?"

Blyke shot him the same look. "Er… I was just wondering if you wanted to work on homework later. After I've done my run."

"No thanks," 'John' replied in a dismissive tone. "I'm _busy_."

Again 'John' tried to turn away, and again Blyke took a few steps closer. "Hey, if you're still angry about that thing with Remi, I'm sorry. But I'm more than willing to move on."

"The thing with Remi"? It had best be some petty incident that had occured months ago. He knew John would never move on, but… it couldn't hurt if he pushed him in the direction. Besides, he didn't need any more trouble around here as a consequence of their bickering, and he'd love to see John's face.

In his moment of hesitation, Blyke spoke again. "I was never looking to fight. We're roommates, sooo… shouldn't we at least be on good terms?"

'John' let out a sigh.

It wasn't all that bad. He had done well in his schoolwork last year, so it was fairly easy. They didn't talk about anything besides their work. He agreed to do it again over the weekend- and by that time, he prayed it would actually be John sitting there with Blyke- before they went to bed. There was still no reply from Seraphina.


	7. The Talks

_What we've got here is a failure to communicate. - Cool Hand Luke_

"Remi."

Hold on, that's Arlo's voice. How did he get over here?

_TAT, TAT, TAT._

She took an alternate path today _just_ so that she couldn't run into him! "W-what are you doing here?" she asked, her English accent squeaking near the end.

In reply, he only grabbed her arm and began to haul her back the way she had come.

"Hold on! I have class!"

She did actually have class. And here he was, taking her into some empty classroom.

"What the hell were you thinking?" 'Arlo' demanded, his voice raised more than usual and definitely showing more emotion than she typically heard from him. "Let me see your arm."

She gave him a funny look. "Huh?" The girl held out her left arm. "Whu-?"

"The _other_ one."

Remi held back her arm. "Ew, what? Arlo-?"

"Dressing up in costume, and running around in search of EMBER? Are you insane?" His hands were by his sides and he had her pressed against the wall.

"It wasn't supposed to turn out like that. I-"

"You just take down a person, they give you all their secrets, and suddenly everything is hunky-dory?"

"We just weren't expecting it. We weren't prepared."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "It doesn't matter how prepared you were. You're outclassed in every way!"

Remi stared at the floor. She knew he was right, but she had only been trying to help everyone. To get payback for her brother. To get payback for waiting so long, and never hearing a word of justice. Once Rei had graduated, Arlo saw him less and less- and never speaking with her brother again wouldn't be much of a shock for him. But Rei hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't hurt anyone. He was helping where the authorities couldn't- wouldn't- and they punished him for it.

"These aren't games. Look at your arm! Stop playing dress-up, and attend to your duties. Do you hear me?"

When she looked him in the eye again, her vision was blurred through tears. "If we don't do something, who will?"

This made him pause. "Remi, you're not helping anyone if you're _dead_."

The pink-haired girl stayed silent.

"You're only a teenager, and I just want to keep you safe. Now, stop."

When the strawberry-haired girl had fled without another word, John didn't even consider stopping her. Sure, it gave him something to do instead of standing in the lonely halls. But Remi's was _Arlo's_ girlfriend- or something. It's his responsibility to look out for her. Although… it's pretty ironic Arlo ended up close to someone like her. A stark contrast to what a high tier was supposed to be, yet a high tier all the same. She seemed to almost neglect her duties as much as John himself was at the moment, and then she was risking her life at night to help out some low tiers. She was a superhero…

… Blyke and Isen were her sidekicks. They must have agreed to go along. Isen hadn't sounded very enthusiastic about it on the phone, but there was no question that he was a kissass. If Arlo didn't want Remi being a superhero, Isen would back out of it. But both of the boys had agreed to do it in the first place- Remi didn't seem like she would force the two- and then they went on a _second _trip. The one who had tried to shoot him with a beam. The one who broke his wrist for the fun of it. They were, in their own right, superheroes.

Yet again, Arlo had forgotten to change the alarm on John's phone to go off _an hour_ later than what the boy had set it to. When he attempted to do so, the most recent tab to be used appeared after the lock screen… and Sera had still not replied. Something must be seriously wrong, and Elaine should know what.

The knocking on her door was harsh and quick. Elaine couldn't imagine anyone rapping on her door at this time- her hair was still wet from the shower, and she had just finished dressing a minute ago! If it was Blyke and Isen again, she would h-

"Elaine." The voice alone haunted her, but seeing him right there, in person, so close to her in her own dorm sent shivers down her spine.

"J-John?"

"Do you know where Sera is?"

Well, okay, he didn't seem too mad. When she dared to look into his eyes, they didn't portray the glares of anger they had… ever since she found out. His priorities were on Seraphina at the moment, and she dearly wished she could please him. "I- I don't. I thought she was with you!"

His eyebrows narrowed. There- there was the agitation she had been hoping to avoid. "She didn't come back here?"

She hardly realized she backed up a bit. "N-no! I haven't seen her since yesterday morning. I-I even texted her. No reply…"

He turned away to face the hall. "Grab Arlo for me, would you?"

"Well… I just thought that you should really attend to the matter. Those guys aren't going to resolve the fight themselves anytime soon." Damn. How the hell did Arlo put up with Holden all day long? He was almost as annoying as Elaine. It figures- they've both got blue hair.

"Excuse me?" Shit. The blue-hairs have teamed up.

Both boys turned around to face Elaine, who looked extremely uncomfortable and panicked. "Hey, Elaine!" Holden replied cheerfully. So… this attack was planned. "Long time no see!" And they're covering it up as well.

"Hi Holden. Uhum, Arlo? Can I talk to you… privately?"

He looked at Holden. "I suppose I'll talk with you later."

The kid stopped for a minute to take the hint. "Uhhhhhh, yep!"

He had just started to rush off when Elaine turned back the way she had come. "Follow me."

Lord have mercy.


	8. The Texts

_Nobody puts Baby in the corner. -Dirty Dancing_

'John' was leaned up against the wall when he and Elaine arrived. "What the hell is this?" 'Arlo' demanded.

'John' shoved himself off the wall and folded his arms. "Sera's been missing since yesterday afternoon. She didn't return to either of our dorms."

'Arlo' had hardly heard anything past 'Sera'. How _DARE_ Arlo call her that to his face? It was as if he was being mocked for not being able to speak with her. Arlo didn't have the _right_ to refer to her as such unless he was faking his personality. And he had probably been basking in the glory of chatting it up with Sera. John knew Arlo would _never_ have called her 'Sera' until this had happened.

"Do you need me to repeat that for you?" 'John' questioned in a scornful tone.

"You managed to _lose track of her_?" he demanded. "Are you **kidding me!**"

The other boy's pompous attitude was replaced with a hint of worry. "I was doing my best. Who let the information leak in the first place?"

He grabbed 'John' by the collar and lifted him up so that their height was more similar.

"Guys!" Elaine squealed. "Please! We-"

He flung 'John' to the ground and wheeled around to Elaine. "WOULD YOU JUST _**SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH?**_"

The words rang out through the empty buildings and were met with a cold silence. 'Arlo' hadn't meant to scream at her like that, but she truly was the most annoying bitch he had ever laid eyes on- and it stung his retinas.

Elaine looked like a toddler ready to cry as she backed up. The quick patter of her footsteps echoed as she darted off in fear as fast as possible. 'John' knew they shouldn't just let her run off- but she was already gone by the time he had recovered from being thrown. "Elaine! Wait!"

It was fairly amusing to have seen her come close to a heart attack. It was too bad Arlo didn't see the fun in it.

"John, you piece of shit! She was going to help in the search!" He finally got back on his feet. "Ugh. I shouldn't have even notified you in the first place!"

"Shut up." he said through gritted teeth. "I trusted you to take care of her, and this happens. It just goes to show how much of a failure you are at everything."

Arlo wasn't responding. His gaze was behind him. For a second, John could have sworn he heard more footsteps than Elaine's in the distance- but _whatever_. Sera's still missing, and nothing is more important than that.

"Hello? Was it you zoning out that let her disappear?"

"She was there one minute, and gone the next. There was hardly a twenty minute difference. What do you expect from me?"

John gave him the death glare. "You know what I expect you to do? Go find Sera. It was because of your stupidity that something happened, so you can go save her on your own."

Arlo truly looked disgusted. "She could be bleeding out somewhere, and you wish for _me_ to look for her across the entire school- and perhaps farther- all on my own? _Without_ exposing your ability? You're the one who has the connections, the influence, the use of your ability."

"Oh? And what would the magnificent Arlo have me do?"

He held out his hand. "Give me my phone. It looks like we'll be without Elaine for this, thanks to your sparkling attitude."

* * *

Isen, Ventus, and Meili had agreed to meet who they presumed to be Arlo in the most commonly used abandoned classroom (ah yes, there is approximately one for each floor. A search team has been sent out to discover other vacant rooms). Isen was the first to arrive, and he was shocked, to say the least. Arlo and John standing side by side and not ripping each other's throats to shreds was a pretty new concept, even to themselves. "H-Hey, Arlo. Y-you needed help with something?" The orange and black haired kid kept stealing glances at 'John'. When the purple haired boy, Ventus, and the red haired girl, Meili, came in, Isen looked like he had just come home from WWII.

The duo were just as shocked as the unfortunate boy. 'Arlo' spoke up, thankfully, before things got any more awkward. "Seraphina has gone missing. You three are to go out and search for information on her whereabouts."

"The more people who hear about this, the harder it will be to find her." 'John' piped in. "We have no idea on what happened to her, so this should be treated as an emergency."

Meili raised an eyebrow. "...Who are we reporting to?"

'Arlo' got to the question first. "Me. Ventus, you'll search Wallik Hall. Meili, Whesley. Isen, Manner. Understood?"

"Report back every half hour." 'John' commanded.

* * *

Every minute that passed by was painful. 'Arlo' had demanded to see the texts, and it looked like he started spamming her; meanwhile, 'John' got out a massive stack of papers of all the students in Wellston. There were over 900 in total, and he couldn't even begin to narrow down the possibilities.

While hopelessly flipping through the pages, 'John' sat down and asked the open air, "Are you going to text Elaine, or what?"

"Psh." was the only answer for a while. Once the silence had almost become comfortable again, 'Arlo's' tone was less condescending. "You want me to apologise? It's a waste of time."

'John' put the papers down. "John, she's terrified of yo- _me_, now. You seem to have a way with women; besides, you frightened her. One text should do her in."

'Arlo' smirked. "I'm sure the next time you see her, she'll be red as an apple anyway."

It was hard to hide a smile at the irony- it was pretty true. All Arlo would have to do is ask her to forgive him, and she'd be gushing. He _almost_ felt bad, seeing Elaine so devoted to him when all he needed her for was some information and healing from time to time. "Just try not to make her more scared."

'Arlo' scrolled on his phone absentmindedly. "Fine, I'll make sure not to raise my voice above a whisper for the annoying little chipmunk."

'John's' head hit the back of his chair as he slumped. "You don't know the half of it."

_BEEP!_

It wasn't Arlo's notification sound. When he sat up, he noticed 'Arlo's' confounded expression. 'Arlo' eyed him and put his phone against his chest as 'John' walked over. "What, do you have a crush on her now?"

This definitely took 'John' aback. Of course he didn't have feelings for her! He just wanted to make sure she was safe, and John was doing his best to make this difficult. They both had the same goal right now, and seeing Sera's texts was vital. John would be completely lost right now had it not been for him. "What the hell are you talking about? If she texted, I have a right to know about it."

John shoved the phone into his face, and Arlo never even got to see the screen properly before he pulled it away. "Let me respond first."

Arlo waited patiently and a good distance away as John spammed the keys. When the other boy finished, he placed down his phone and turned it off.

_Arlo gave him the most unimpressed stare of the century._

"Well?"

"Well what?" the temperamental boy said in retaliation.

"John, if we're going to find her, I need to see the messages."

"Don't say that like we're on a team. If you're too incompetent, I'll do it myself."

Arlo scoffed and checked his own messages. Ventus had just shot him one: "Four students, no faces. Escorted Seraphina away right before classes ended. 1. Blonde girl long hair; 2. Blonde boy messy hair; 3. Redhead girl bob cut; 4. Pink spiky haired boy."

He returned to his pile of papers and texted Isen to return. Just as he put his own phone down, he noticed John had come up to him and slid his own phone across the desk. "Her texts were… off."

Arlo didn't even check the texts. "I was just notified that some students took her off the campus, so they probably got into her phone somehow."

"... But, then… she's been there overnight."

Arlo only stared down at the photos of hundreds of kids. "At least it was just students."

Isen quite literally busted in, and then seemed to remember classes were in session and proceeded to approach them quietly after closing the door. "You needed me…?"

'John' grabbed John's phone and gave his over to 'Arlo'. "Isen." He finally looked the Isen in the eye, and saw he had a similar reaction to Elaine. The two were deathly afraid of the raven-haired boy, and for rather unjust reasons. "Four students were seen carrying Sera off. We were hoping you knew a group of students that fit the descriptions." He nodded to 'Arlo', who had to try and figure out where the list was. He got it on his third attempt and handed the phone to Isen, who was hesitant to take it.

Isen frowned once he read the list and ever so carefully returned it to 'Arlo'. "Can I have a list of the stronger mid tier students?" He was handed a few pieces of paper and set to work.

He grabbed a pen and circled the squad, plus a few people he thought they knew well. "If we can find one of them, we should be able to figure out where they took Sera." 'John' stated.

Isen nodded. "R-right. Hower is probably our best bet, i-if he's even here right now."

'Arlo' began texting. 'John' motioned to the door. "Lead the way."


	9. The Wounds

_You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk? -Dirty Harry_

By the time 'Arlo' had finished updating Ventus and Meili, 'John' and Isen had already left the hall. Since there seemed to be hardly any time at this point, he turned one way and began the search.

They had actually been headed to the newspaper club to see if anyone knew where Hower was, but they ended up catching him on the way. Though Isen walked pretty stiffly, he seemed eager to be helpful in the hunt. "Hey, Hower!" he called out in the near-empty halls.

The blonde whirled around aggressively. "Huh? What?" When he realized it was Isen, he completely disregarded 'John'. "I-Isen? What do you need?"

Isen got pretty close before he gave the boy his mean face. "No funny business- where's Seraphina?"

"Huh? I'm not really sur…"

Hower only had a moment to notice 'John' was there before Isen's eyes glittered gold. "Tell me, now."

Hower took a step back. "I-I really didn't mean for this. They all escalated it-"

"Her _location_."

"T-Twelve Batson Street… an abandoned house at the end."

Isen turned to 'John', and he shrugged. Isen took this as a cue that the information given was enough, and deactivated. "I hope you're looking forward to meeting with the headmaster." he remarked as he turned around. The inquisitive boy might have asked a few more questions, but time was of the essence, and who knew if 'John' felt like waiting at all? It was just best to get everything over with quickly. While they were going down a flight of stairs, Isen asked, "So… are we going directly there?"

"Yep." was the only reply he got. They got to the front of the school before the black-haired boy paused. "Call a taxi. I'll be right back."

No car ride had ever been so awful. 'John' hadn't known what to say or do, so he hadn't done anything at all. Isen sat in the passenger seat while John and Arlo were in the back, as far away from each other as possible. Maybe he should have gotten his own ride. Maybe he should have left John in the dark. But for some reason, he felt obliged to grab him. After they got out of the cab, 'Arlo' led the charge. He only sighed and followed behind.

A couple of girls were talking when they went up the stairs. Five students all stood around Seraphina, as she was on the brink of passing out, horribly bloodied, and tied to the post. The group of five had look incredibly pissed when 'John' got to the upstairs, but once Isen and 'Arlo' appeared, they let him by without a word. "Sera!" he shouted, and ran over to untie her. She gasped and fell into his arms, breathing heavily and beginning to sob. He heard the other guys doing shit, but only gave care to the girl who was passing out, clutching him for dear life.

"I'm so sorry…!" She repeated this, and forms of this, multiple times in a quick fashion into his sleeve, so that he could hardly understand her.

"Hey, hey. You're safe now, and that's all that matters." he told her in a low voice.

'John' rushed over to Sera before he got the chance to do anything. Well, now he had plenty of time to beat these mid tiers' asses. 'Arlo' neared them without a word, whilst Isen tagged alongside him. "Who was the leader of this stupid thing?" Isen called out. He had noticed 'Arlo's' look and thought he should take over before someone got hurt.

All eyes instantly switched in a red, short haired girl. She locked eyes with Isen for a second, and then stared down at the floor as she shook to her core. 'Arlo' walked _right_ up to her and simply stood there. Poor Isen had no idea what to do and tried to formulate words, but nothing came to mind. "What's your name?" 'Arlo' asked.

The girl shut her eyes. "Illena." The words were hardly audible.

"And the rest of you?" 'Arlo' looked around at the other four, who suddenly looked as terrified as their peer.

They all whispered their names as well. Isen could see his chance- 'John' was already picking up a passed out Seraphina bridal-style, so they could be leaving now. "This whole thing will be reported to the Headmaster immediately. This was dangerous and immoral."  
He would have rambled on, had it not been for the look he was receiving from 'Arlo'. The blonde grabbed the girl by her tie and lifted her closer to his face. "You beat her senseless, tortured her, kept her here overnight without food or drink, and then you continue to beat her?"

She looked at him through tears. "Y-yes."

Isen couldn't have prevented it in time if he wanted to. Illena was already soaring across the room and slid along the floor until she bumped against the wall. Arlo flexed his fist and looked to the next girl- a long blonde. She, along with the others, began to back up. "W-wait!" she begged. "Please, Sir, I'm so sorry!"

Isen touched 'Arlo's' arm and motioned with his head to 'John' already leaving. The taller boy looked conflicted for a second, and then began to walk towards the exit. Isen ran to catch up with him and could only afford one glance back at the mid tiers; they were still shaking.

'Arlo' just sat in the infirmary, wallowing in his own misery. 'John' would have rather been elsewhere, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't leave Seraphina here, especially not with a crazy 'Arlo'. "You should probably go." 'John' muttered to Isen. The younger boy did as he asked without hesitation; indeed, perhaps with relief.

Sera sat up out of the blue and held her head in pain. 'Arlo' watched 'John' rush over from his chair and ask how she was doing. She replied how he would have expected her to, and looked over at him. "Arlo. What are you doing here?" Her voice was full of suspicion, and without sympathy.

He stood. "I set up a search team for you; we were looking everywhere. I lingered to ensure you're alright."

She narrowed her eyes. This behaviour towards him felt so foreign. He was trying. He was doing his best! Why was she so angry with him? "I am. But I'm also a cripple. Why are you protecting me all the time?"

"I believe I already mentioned why."

"And I already told you I'm not falling for your shit."

'John' touched her arm gently. "Well, if it wasn't for him, we may not have found you. I owe him." The look 'John' gave 'Arlo' showed that, in fact, he did not owe anything at all.

Sera looked at the bed. "Arlo, please leave. I can assure you I'm fine."


	10. The Trio

_The first rule about Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club. -Fight Club_

He hadn't spoken with Sera in days. And when he was finally able to, she pushed him away. How much longer was he supposed to deal with this? It was worse than when she got suspended. As he was walking alone, near the dorms, doubts flooded his thoughts. How much longer could this last? Days? WEEKS? What if the person who had switched himself and Arlo wasn't a student? What if they were from the same people who attacked Sera? What if he couldn't return to normal?

Isen had been taking this back route and headed towards the school- AKA towards 'Arlo'- when he looked up and locked eyes. The boy froze and seemed like he was tempted to turn around before 'Arlo' really cared, but he ended up just standing there. 'Arlo' slowed down as he approached. "You'd better have the list ready for me." he growled.

Isen looked to the ground and bit his lip. "I already looked through 700 students, and there's been nothing so far."

'Arlo' stood directly in front of him and glared down in contempt. "But you didn't finish looking through everyone?"

"A-Arlo, I-"

'Arlo's' shoulder was weighed down slightly by a hand. The world went black. Everything was revolving around him at a thousand miles an hour, twisting and curling under his feet. There was a strong breeze, now there wasn't. He was definitely shorter now; it was the only definite feeling. The ground was like a liquid marsh, the pavement burning his fingers.

But there was no time. He opened his eyes to the harsh white light and spinning walls. Blink. Blink. Steady. His vision was becoming steady. And his hearing- it seemed better than before. He could hear Isen coughing and trying to breathe beside him. He could hear the squeak of cheap runners as they brushed along sweaty feet and floor. His equilibrium was completely off, so there were no hopes of standing- but his line of sight. He should have been able to see the kids running off, but there was nothing there.

He head felt like a thousand pounds, and he felt himself moving- most likely towards the ground. A rush of power went through him. With Isen's special vision, he saw some orange forms moving away. It must have been the kids- the footsteps lined up. Probably. Maybe. But that meant…

When Isen had finally recovered, he noticed he felt weird. Especially his dick. Something felt off about it...

"Uhmph." Arlo groaned. Isen opened his eyes and looked over at the other boy, who had fallen unconscious. But the other boy… was him?

He patted himself down- no tie. Curly hair? As he stood, the world was at least a foot shorter than before. But if he wasn't himself… was himself himself?

He looked down at himself. It couldn't be himself. But it was himself.

Isen- or, whoever he was? Whatever. Isen. Isen propped his… body… up against the wall of the school.

The guy woke up pretty quickly. He appeared dazed for a second, and then tried to stand. As Isen tried to help, his hand was slapped away. "Don't fucking touch me, Isen! This is all your damn fault!"

He backed up a bit. "I-I.. it's… wh-"

"_If you could have just done as I asked, this wouldn't have happened_!"

"A-and what's h-happened?"

The glare he received looked so much like the ones John had given him before- but it also looked like Arlo's. "We switched bodies." he muttered.

"W-we what!" He touched himself again. The hair, the tie- no! What the fuck?! This is impossible. This doesn't happen. M-maybe he had been knocked out by Arlo after all. This is definitely impossible. _What. The. FUCK?_

"Yeah. Now you get to play Arlo. Isn't that fun?" Arlo- himself? Arlo turned away from him. "Now I'm even farther away from Sera… YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

Arlo whirled around on him and went for a grab with his eyes aglow. Isen held up his hands defensively and, out of habit- one might say, created the barrier between himself and who he assumed was Arlo… in his body. As soon as the faint yellow light appeared, the other boy started cursing and muttering under his breath while holding his left hand and arm. Isen lowered his hands from his face, but kept the barrier there. "Y-you're… not… Arlo?"

Whoever it was looked back up at him with even more anger and spite than Isen could have imagined possible. "Lower the barrier."

Isen summoned a barrier around the other guy. "L-look. I still don't know what's going on-"

"Lower. Your damn. Barrier."

He knew it was impossible to break Arlo's barrier, unless you were someone like Seraphina. Isen was definitely not Seraphina. So whoever was in his body would be weak like him- but when they returned to normal? What if the guy decided he wanted pay back?

The barrier disappeared. The boy remained still.

Isen was sweating out a river.

"I'm going to find Arlo. Do whatever the hell you want."

As the other boy turned away, Isen grabbed his left arm. "Wait a se-"

Whoever it was tried to yank their arm away, but couldn't do it. They turned around and pulled some more, to no avail. Isen just straightened up and waited. Eventually the other boy stopped his feeble attempts at strutting away. "What do you want?"

Isen loosened his grip. "I don't even know who you are."

"John."

What? JOHN? No, that can't be right. It's Arlo. It's Arlo being really weird and messing with him. There's no way he could have gotten himself involved with the two Kings like this. There was _no way_. No one else had been acting weird…

Oh. Oh. No. Oh no. John had been acting off. He was more calm and authoritative… but that had to be his personality. This was just Arlo. It had to be.

Arlo- who it _definitely was_\- yanked his hand free and began to walk off. Panicked, Isen tagged along behind him. "W-where are we going?" he asked timidly.

Isen was simply ignored.

* * *

There hadn't been much to say; Sera had fallen asleep after a… trade of emotions. Arlo decided to get up and stretch for a bit- she was probably thirsty, not to mention starved, so he could grab her something.

Well, that went out the window before he had even left the infirmary.

Isen was the first to come in, looking extremely pissed. Next was John, who appeared anxious, to say the least. Arlo himself had hardly stood from the chair as Isen came up beside him. "Those guys? They're invisible." he whispered.

Arlo looked at the boy with a weirded glance, and looked over at who he had assumed was John in his handsome form. "Excuse me?"

Isen glared at him. "Me and Isen switched. They go invisible."

Arlo's eyes wandered between the both of them. "So you're John," he inquired, while pointing at Isen, "And you're Isen?" he asked, looking at his own body.

While Isen gave a worried nod, John replied with, "The fuck did I just say?" To be spoken to like this from Isen, who had been unnerving him for a while as they were the same height, hit home in Arlo.

"-" No, he shouldn't say that. "-!" or that. Arlo growled as he tried to formulate a sentence. Why was it so hard all of the sudden? "I never got a 'thank-you', _John_."

The boy glared at Arlo. "Psh. What would I possibly thank _you_ for?"

As Arlo tried to straighten himself up more, he was still just about the same height as 'Isen'. "You would never have found Seraphina without my help. I don't deserve to be treated as such when I've shown to accomplish far more than you! All you do is sulk around, order people to do your work, and then get mad at them for it. There's no reason to give me information- …" (he couldn't think of how to phrase those people, and so sat at a loss for words- much to the unnerving of Isen), "... And then expect me to do everything for you! I've already stated that I'm busy with Seraphina, and you are just as inclined to search for them as I am. What do you need me for? You have Isen."

John grabbed him by the tie and yanked his head down. "Y-"

"W-wait!" Isen called out, and then checked himself once he realized that the Doctor might be listening- but Daren was too busy covering up his nosebleed. In a hushed tone, he tried to make John loosen his grip. "Arguing isn't helping an-"

"Oh, just shut it, Isen!" John pulled his hand free of Isen's grasp.

Arlo fixed his collar. "I'm serious, John. Why did you come over here?"

"Well, this guy isn't worth my time," he stuck a lazy thumb in Isen's direction. "And since there was nothing else to do, I thought I'd tell you how amazing I was, since I figured out that the two students turn invisible."

Arlo might have rolled his eyes, but- now given the chance- he began to piece it together. One must be turning them invisible, the other switching the bodies of whomever they please. But that would more than likely make them mid tiers. They'd have no motive for switching the three around! Unless…

… And then it clicked.

"Do either of you know where Cecile is?" he asked.

Isen was quick to shake his head, while John activated his ability and looked around. For a moment, Arlo suspected John was about to attack Isen, which would have gone terribly for him if Isen chose to defend himself. Instead, however, John looked towards the ceiling and then deactivated after a moment. "I think she's in the press room with two other guys." John was about to ask why Arlo had mentioned her, but then he understood as well.

"Come on." Arlo commanded, as he led the way out of the infirmary and towards the stairs. It was currently lunch at the moment and all the students had flocked elsewhere. The trio were alone as they trekked up the stairs.


	11. The Bust

_Yippie-ki-yay motherfucker! -Die Hard_

As Cecile witnessed 'John' enter, followed by 'Isen' and 'Arlo', she managed to appear more nervous than Isen. The originally orange-haired lad closed the door behind them, while two boys which had looked to be exiting the room backed up into the same corner as Cecile, and tried to mutter a few apologies and excuses.

'Isen' stomped over to them and grabbed Cecile by her collar.

"John." 'John' said.

'Isen' ignored him and pulled Cecile closer. "Who switched us?"

"I-I did." a boy with red hair piped up.

'John' paid the red-haired boy, whose head was half shaven, no heed. Instead, he too approached the girl with turquoise hair. "You used my own student against me?" he demanded in the calm tone he typically possessed. "How _dare_ you?"

Cecile had not seen this coming in the slightest. Kevin had told her he'd make them so sick, there was no way they'd get to the boys before they were already long gone. Yet, now the two most dangerous students in Wellston stood before her. And how was she supposed to answer? 'Yes, Arlo, I hate your fucking guts, and it was time someone finally took that smirk off your face'?

'Isen' shoved her into the wall and went to go pick on the dirty blonde and redhead. 'Arlo' was there, somehow seeming more nervous than ever. While 'John' was busy with Cecile, 'Arlo' hoped he could just stop 'Isen' from going over the top. The blonde boy he recognised from working with the press, but he wasn't overly familiar with the boy's name- and then the red-haired boy, he didn't know at all. "J-John, it m-might not be their fault. Cecile probably forced them to do it."

"I-I'm new. I didn't know who you guys were until after the initial...swap… and then I didn't know how to approach you…" the redhead rambled. "... I heard some bad things about you, and then I realized Arlo was the KING-"

"So you despise us, and then all the sudden that flips as soon as we're known to be powerful?" 'Isen' growled.

Cecile screeched in pain from the nearby corner. When the other four looked that way, 'John' still had his hand up and the side of the girl's face was quickly growing pink from the slap. "You want _me_ to follow the hierarchy," 'John' demanded, "So you pull THIS SHIT? You're a fucking hypocrit!"

_Great_, Isen thought. _We have two Johns in the room._ "Guys, let's calm down, please!"

'Isen' and 'John' turned to him with equal glares of hate.

"I-I know it's bad…" 'Arlo' took a deep breath in. "But these two didn't really have a choice," he pointed to Kevin and Terrence, "And slapping _her_ isn't helping anyone. Can we at least get changed back before anything else?"

Kevin got caught in 'Arlo's' pleading gaze, trying not to look at the other two. He briskly stepped forward to touch 'Isen' and 'Arlo'. John bristled at the thought of getting sick for a third time, but at this point, he'd gladly take it to get back _into his own body_. Both boys closed their eyes, and when they opened them, it felt like nothing had changed but their build.

Isen patted himself down and took a seat on a desk with relief. Never in a million years would he _ever_ want to _be_ Arlo again. He felt like himself once more, and not like some unwilling imposter. John and Arlo were swapped back the same way, without the pain, and then Kevin backed up by the door to the classroom. The three boys were so grateful, they didn't notice the blonde disappearing from sight, and then disappearing from the room, Kevin managed to slink out as well, but Cecile was not so lucky. In the boys' grateful bliss, the two boys managed to get out of the classroom, leaving Cecile with the brunt of the penalties.

"I should have you expelled." Arlo declared with a mock smirk. "Or worse."

"At least let me pummel her before she goes." John said with his eyes flickering to light.

Cecile spit in front of them, still backed into the corner of the room. "I'll have all your little secrets released, no matter what you do. The whole school will get to hear of their Shadow King and new Jack."

"From who?" Isen was hardly within view with Arlo and John looming over her, but he could still win points with the Kings. "You? Me? That loyal blonde of yours? I don't think so."


	12. The Change

_After all, tomorrow is another day. -Gone With The Wind_

The trees rustled in the breeze steadily, the same pace as Arlo's heartbeat. He could finally be at peace without pretending to be anyone else. Remi, Blyke… they would all speak with him again. Respect him again.

Not even the fact of knowing why John hid, or that he had pushed the raven haired boy to such lengths, bothered Arlo at the moment. Isen's few warnings before getting on with his duties were overridden by the tranquil joy he felt.

"Hey Arlo!"

"Hey, Pinkie." he greeted. A true smile appeared on his face as the girl he'd known for so many years like a sister sat down. Normally when they didn't speak for a while, he hardly gave it a thought. They both had plenty of things to be doing, and it's not as if they were dating. The last few days had worn him down. Even having a conversation with Blyke about becoming the next King had put him in much better spirits.

"You look like a ray of sunshine," she said in jest. "Did something happen? Is something _wrong_?"

"Not at all." he said while he wrapped on arm around her and gave a little hug. "I'm just glad to see you safe."

* * *

John took a couple of Sera's bags out of the many she had looped around her arms. Though it was incredibly busy at the mall during the weekend, it felt like it was just the two of them. Finally, Sera wasn't regarding him with distrust and disappointment. They hadn't even spoken much on their way; he was just grateful he could spend time near her again.

"Had fun last night?" she asked with a ghost of a smile. So the blonde had purposefully set him up.

"Well, I mean… Blyke wasn't all that bad, I guess. Made me feel like a fucking idiot though."

"_Someone_ needs you to help you with homework. If he's not a good teacher, I _guess_ I could find time to help…"

John rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, alright?"

Sera grinned. "Didn't I tell you he should be given a chance?"

He sighed.

She chuckled and took a long glance at a new store which had sprung up, looking as though she planned to load up on that '50% off' deal.

The black haired boy groaned loudly. "I'm already carrying a thousand pounds of stuff!"

She took his hand and led him outside to where it was quieter. "Alright, we can dump this off at my dorm. But you have to admit, it was a great haul."

John watched her hair blow in the breeze as she twisted around to face him, her angelic features nigh on glowing in the late afternoon. Her eyes sparkled, her smile was pure, her slim figure pulling with a fierce but friendly force back to the bus pickup. It was hard to get her to stop, but he did. "Sera… I'm sorry about… what happened the other day." Even when she had been in the infirmary bed, she appeared lightyears away.

To his surprise, she didn't seem fazed at all. Instead, she stood back at his side and leaned her head on his shoulder. "You don't have to apologise about anything. You're a great kisser."

_I'm a- WHAT?! __ARLO, YOU SONUVA-!_

**END**

* * *

**A/N**

Wow, guess I should have posted sooner. :p I know the last two chapters were especially short, but I hope I wrapped everything up well enough. It just didn't feel right to combine THE BUST with THE CHANGE.

A thank you to IanAlphaAxel for the nice reviews! They mean a lot.

With this practice shot out of the way, more stories are in the works! There will be more unOrdinary (+SPN) short stories and a few drabbles on the way with, hopefully, regular timing. Any ideas are appreciated! I start a lot of stories and finish few. Now if you'll excuse me, r/WritingPrompts is calling my name.


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